The Little Pyrrha
by God Emperor Penguin
Summary: Volume 3 Spoilers. After her death, Pyrrha Nikos is cloned using Atlas technology. 'Little Pyrrha' has the original's manners, personality, and smile. She looks like her, acts like her… but doesn't feel truly her. For the March 2016 r/RWBY Mon Con.
1. Fly me to the moon

**Summary:** Volume 3 Spoilers. After her death, Pyrrha Nikos is cloned using Atlas technology. 'Little Pyrrha' has the original's manners, personality, and smile. She looks like her, acts like her… but doesn't feel truly her. For the March 2016 r/RWBY Mon Con.

 **The Little Pyrrha**

 **Chapter One**

 **Fly me to the moon**

 _Written from the perspective of "Pyrrha Nikos"_

The day I was born, they called me ' _Pyrrha Nikos_ '.

It was fortunate that they did, for I did not know my name at the time.

My first memory is of a white room that smelled of lilacs and lavender. I rose from a white bed. There were no windows in this room. There were no pictures. There were only charts and figures and diagrams I could not understand. There was also the unfamiliar ceiling.

A nurse opens the door. She is very surprised. She calls for a doctor - a grey man in a white coat with broken teeth. He is very pleased. They both make sure that they will contact ' _my friends_ ' as soon as possible.

That was when I learned I had friends.

Or at least, the Pyrrha Nikos before me did.

The nurse was very pleasant. She made sure I had enough to eat. She placed a tray of food by my bedside. She told me they were my favorite. I smiled and said 'This is too much, thank you'. The words that slipped from my lips were so natural it felt like they were lines from a script.

Polite. Submissive. Eager to please.

When she left, I turned to the tray before me.

Food. It is the stuff of subsistence. For some it is a daily luxury. For others it is something that keeps me from teetering on the brink of death.

I raised a spoon filled with green orbs. ' _Peas'_ was what came to mind. A vegetable. The other thing was meat. ' _Lamb'_. It has a gamey texture and is a good source of protein. How strange. These words that came to mind, yet I didn't know what they were.

Taking a spoonful of peas, it tasted unique - as if I had tasted such a thing before yet for the first time. It was deja vu. It all tasted so new, so peculiar, yet it was as if I had tasted this countless times before.

I chewed a little. It was okay.

The more I chewed and the more I ate the more I suspected the problem was with me.

These foods were to be my favorite, yet they did not taste good or bad. Thinking of it afterwards, perhaps knowing they were my favorite only to taste the reality left me with disappointment. Children eat snacks and sweets from cheap candy stores and cannot appreciate a expensive ingredients made by a master chef. Likewise, an adult with no childhood cannot taste the nostalgia of a common sugary treat.

I found the freshness of the meat and vegetables preferable to the artificial sweets.

Are foods only delicious if they were made with natural ingredients?

As I finished the last of my meal, the door opened with terrible force. That was when I first saw him. He was a stranger who looked at me with such sad, blue eyes that I could not help but pity him.

"Pyrrha!" The shout rattled my bones. It took a moment to registered he was referring to me. Pyrrha was now my name. It took even longer to realize I was caught tightly in his embrace, like a meandering fly bumbling into a spider's web. "Pyrrha, you're okay… you're okay…"

He was sobbing. I did not know what to do, so I embraced him back.

"There, there, Jaune." I do not know how I knew his name but I did. It felt easy to say, like the most natural name in the world besides my own. I patted him on the back. His tears moistened my white hospital gown. I blushed at the thought that his tears may cause it to become transparent and reveal my lack of undergarments. Yet somehow, that did not bother me as much as I thought it would.

After a moment, he released me. He held my shoulders. He was smiling with tears in his eyes. I smiled back. I have to admit, his touch was strange but not unpleasant.

Raising my hand, I placed it on his cheek.

It was so warm.

This boy, Jaune, was the leader of my team. Or at least, he was the leader of the original Pyrrha Nikos' team. Goofy. Genuine. A bit of genius strategist laid hidden beneath his goofy exterior. The old me had a lot of trust in him - trust that bordered with hormonal confusions of love and infatuation.

"I'm just so glad to see you again." His words were soft and poise and spoken with a genuine smile.

Pyrrha Nikos was dead.

My purpose in this world was to fill the void left in her wake. That is the reason for my life - my existence. My lips curled into a smile as deliberate as a clock with mechanical gears and pendulums driving it to act at the precise moment in perfect timing.

"It's good to see you again too, Jaune."

 _ **Chapter One Fin**_

' _Grown-ups never understand anything by themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them._ '

 **The Little Prince** by Antoine de Saint-Exupery


	2. And let me play among the stars

**Summary:** Volume 3 Spoilers. After her death, Pyrrha Nikos is cloned using Atlas technology. 'Little Pyrrha' has the original's manners, personality, and smile. She looks like her, acts like her… but doesn't feel truly her. For the March 2016 r/RWBY Mon Con.

 **The Little Pyrrha**

 **Chapter Two**

 **And let me play among the stars**

 _Written from the perspective of "Pyrrha Nikos"_

I'm wearing _my clothes_ \- a dead woman's clothes.

The shirt and jacket and skirt all smelled so familiar. Yet that was my scent. How strange it is to be able to smell oneself. I straightened the bow around my neck, tightening it like a collar. I patted down my socks for wrinkles. One final check in the mirror and I adjusted myself. The brassieres fit snugly, not too big and not too tight.

I left the room and made my way to the cafeteria where I was to meet everyone. I knew the way. I knew every staircase and every room and every floor yet I had never been in Beacon Academy before. _Pardon._ I, the current Pyrrha Nikos, have never been in Beacon Academic before.

There were looks at me wherever I go. The side glance in my direction. The look of disgust. The look of shock. The look of horror. Perhaps they saw me as something I wasn't or perhaps they saw me for what I was. Or perhaps the original Pyrrha Nikos harbored the resentment of the student body. Or perhaps she harbored their affections so deeply that I could not fill her shoes.

"Pyrrha Nikos?"

I turned to face the Heiress of the Atlas, Weiss Schnee of the Schnee Dust Company. For a moment, a thought of rage flashed through my mind. I called her a ' _Thief!_ ' in my mind. There in the empty hallway, I felt compelled to reach out and crush her thin neck with my bare hands.

"Weiss Schnee." I greeted. I covered my mouth with my hands. I had misspoken. "I mean, sorry. That was too formal. I meant to say. Hello Weiss."

Like instinct imprinted into my very genes, I bowed in apology. Weiss simply folded her arms, an eyebrow raised curiously. She wore the same uniform I was and insisted I raise my head. Afterall, Weiss explained, we were friends.

Were we?

I had never met her before this moment.

"How are you enjoying Beacon?" Weiss' question was direct. She did not pretend that I was the original Pyrrha. She did not ask 'How are you?' or 'How was your day?' There were no games with her. Her eyes looked at me, icy and calculating, with the intensity of the shattered moon's darkest side. To her, I was but a fake, an imitation…

 _A counterfeit._

"It is all very new yet very familiar."

"Unsurprising. Atlas technology allows us to imprint basic memory protocols into synthetic clones." Weiss said it nonchalantly, like the most obvious thing in the world. "It might take some getting used to, but you'll have all the knowledge the old…" Weiss bit her tongue as if catching herself in breaking taboo. "I mean- you'll know everything you'll ever need to know."

"It has been a pleasant experience."

"Really?" Weiss appeared unconvinced. "With everyone looking at you like some abomination?"

"I don't believe people see that in me-"

Weiss snorted.

"You're acting like her already."

"Pardon?"

"She used to act like everything was okay when nothing was." With a sigh, she walked past me, her arms still crossed tightly. "Come on. The doofus is probably waiting for you."

It took a moment for me to realize who she was referring to. "You mean Jaune?"

"Who else could I be- oh right, you don't remember… yeah. Him. He's waiting for you."

As I followed along in the wake of Weiss' footsteps, I couldn't help but believe she was correct in her assessment. Maybe this experience was not so pleasant after all.

The cafeteria was large.

"Pyrrha!" A girl with a red cape waved at me furiously from across the rows of tables. Her voice echoed throughout the cafeteria halls. "Here! Here! We saved you a seat!"

Weiss continued walking towards her. I followed along.

There were many people seated at the table. Jaune was not present. There was a man with black hair and a single pink highlight. Lie Ren. A girl with orange hair and vicious energy. Nora Valkyrie. A girl of black - Blake Belladonna - and a girl of yellow - Yang Xiao Long. And there was, of course, the girl with the red cape - Ruby Rose. The girls wore the same uniforms as I.

"Hello. I am Pyrrha Nikos."

Ruby snorted a laugh. "We know that!" She waved off. "Come on - sit! Sit! Jaune went to get you some food."

"How was the stay at the hospital?" Blake asked curiously.

"It was good. They were very nice."

"Got any good grub?" Nora licked her lips as she continued with a midday helping of pancakes. "I hearf hoffipal fooft tastes baph. Zith truth?" She sputtered out a spray of pancake bits over Lie Ren who sat opposite of her.

"No. They were very accommodating. They served me all my of my favorites."

"Is that so?" Weiss said. "Well, you're welcome - I footed the bill for that after all."

I looked to Weiss before bowing my head. "Thank you."

The table sat in silence for a moment before a thick arm wrapped around my neck in a headlock.

"Come on Weiss, don't be like that! She was just joking Pyrrha. You'll need to get used to her humor. She's not exactly the easiest person to _warm_ up to!" Yang paused expectantly. "Get it? _Warm up_ to?"

"Pardon?"

"It's a pun. She does those things." Blake explained.

A pun. It is a type of wordplay that suggests two or more meaning by exploiting similar sounding words for humorous or rhetorical effect. My mind began processing this. 'Warm up' means to get to know someone better. It also means to literally raise one's temperature. Weiss Schnee's name means 'White Snow'. Snow is cold. Oh. I get it.

I laughed several seconds after the fact.

"Haha… we'll work on that," Yang said patting my back. "That actually reminds me of that mission in the Southern Meadows. You know, that joint mission?"

Ruby's eyes sparkled at the memory. "Yeah! I remember that too! Wasn't that the time Nora wandered off and…"

"Oh yeah! I remember that lecture Pyrrha gave me. ' _Nora, it's very inappropriate to…_ " Nora went off in an impersonation of myself before everyone began laughing at the rendition of the events that had played out in the past.

I did not laugh.

How strange it was to see all your 'friends' talk about you as if you were not really there. Then again, I was not the Pyrrha Nikos they were speaking of. I am the current Pyrrha Nikos.

Even still, I was the stranger at the table.

Jaune returned bearing a tray of food, ladened with Pyrrha Nikos' favorites.

"Here you go Pyrrha! You must be starving."

"Thank you, Jaune." I did not have the heart to tell him I did not like the food but I ate it with a smile anyway.

 _ **Chapter Two Fin**_

' _Language is the source of misunderstandings._ '

 **The Little Prince** by Antoine de Saint-Exupery


	3. Won't you let me see what spring is like

**Summary:** Volume 3 Spoilers. After her death, Pyrrha Nikos is cloned using Atlas technology. 'Little Pyrrha' has the original's manners, personality, and smile. She looks like her, acts like her… but doesn't feel truly her. For the March 2016 r/RWBY Mon Con.

 **The Little Pyrrha**

 **Chapter Three**

 **Won't you let me see what spring is like**

 _Written from the perspective of "Pyrrha Nikos"_

My days as Pyrrha Nikos at Beacon passed normally, or as normally as I would expect.

The stares and looks died down after a bit and my friends did their best to make me feel comfortable. I could not refuse their generosity, as it was what I thought Pyrrha would have done.

Their feelings are so real, so genuine. Their eyes do not sparkle when they see me, they sparkle when they see Pyrrha Nikos. The memories and feelings that I would never recall or feel are harboured so deeply by these people…

I don't get it.

The technology that created me has given the ability to read and listen and speak.

But I can't understand.

Even if they speak of delicious food or the sights and sounds I do not understand. They try to recreate the moment which only cheapens the thought. What good is the second rendition of the first? When they talk of a joke or reference some distant anecdote and they all laugh… I feel obligated to laugh as well.

I'm terrified to admit I don't know what in the world they're talking about.

And like so, I was trapped. The bow around my neck felt tight like a collar. I adjusted myself. We were to have a picnic soon and I looked over myself in the mirror.

'Pyrrha Nikos, you are beautiful' I said to the mirror.

'You have friends aplenty. You have reputation and wealth…'

'Mirror, Mirror, tell me - why am I the loneliest of them all?'

When I arrived at the picnic, I learned Weiss would not attend. She had business to take care of with her family and so declined to join us.

There was the smell of spring and barbeque.

"Hey Pyrrha! Catch!" Ruby tossed a can of soda at me. I raised my hands but my reaction was poor.

The can bumped onto my head.

"Oh! Sorry! I remembered you could catch it with your semblance and-"

"It's quite alright. You meant no ill will," I reassured. This was a minor instance of failing to live up to whom I was supposed to be. I placed a hand on Ruby's cheek who looked as if she was about to burst into tears for her mistake. "It's alright. If you'd like to make it up to me, could you get me a burger?"

"No cheese right? You said it gives you..." Ruby's voice turned low as she finished, " _the rumbly tummy._ "

Did it? I do not know. But I did like cheese.

"Actually… I'd prefer cheese if that'd be alright. But no pickles please."

"Yup! Burger with cheese, hold the pickles! Right away, Miss!" Ruby saluted with the formality of a waitress and went off to get a burger from Ren who was working the grill.

When Ruby returned with a pair of burgers and handed me mine, we sat on the table. We talked of the usual things: schoolwork and missions and restaurants to try… but invariable it returned to nostalgic memories.

"Oh remember the school dance?"

"That was so fun. Especially when the whole team got up and performed the routine!" Immediately Nora grabbed Ren who arrived with a plate of chicken wings. With Nora in the lead, they both began bursting into an elaborate showcase of movement. "Wheeeew!"

Everyone clapped along, forming an impromptu beat.

"Go Nora! Go Ren!" Ruby clapped excitedly. Yang joined in with the cheers.

Even Blake cracked a smile.

"I remember that," Jaune said fondly.

"I do not."

The words resounded throughout the table. Everyone became silent. Nora and Ren froze mid-movement at my comment. I bit down on my lip, cursing my stupidity for having brought unnecessary attention to myself.

They were all in a trance and realized they weren't in a dream.

"Oh-um… hey, don't we have a video of that dance somewhere?" Yang said nervously.

"Yeah, it's on my scroll - I'll go get it," Blake said rummaging through her bag.

"It's fine," I muttered quietly. "I don't think I would like to see it right now."

"O-okay."

Jaune placed a hand on my back.

"How about we get some desser- _ah!_ "

A splash of ice cold water was dumped onto Jaune's head.

"Hey there, kiddos."

 _Cardin Winchester._

Sleaze. Racist. Bigot. Unpleasant person. All these words flooded my mind at the thought of him. His grin was dripping with arrogance.

"Cardin! That was _rude_." Yang stepped up. Even with her bare hands she could punch a few faces in.

"It's all in the name of good fun, lil' Miss Sunshine~"

"I'll little Miss Sunshine you-"

"Enough," I interrupted. "Cardin, what are you doing here?"

His disgusting grin grew wider, as if revelling in annoying me.

"It seems you - or at least, the thing that calls itself you - is back in action." He gestured with a flex of his muscles to display his petty excuse for masculinity. "I was wondering if you feel like going another round. I haven't forgotten last time."

"I don't recall beating you."

"Why you little-"

Jaune intervened between us.

"Cardin…" he growled. "Back off."

"Oi. I'm just here to issue a friendly challenge. Let's see if I'm finally better than the ' _great_ ' Pyrrha Nikos."

"That's not-"

"I accept."

The table turned to silence. No one was smiling - except for Cardin. They all turned to each other, as if they knew some secret that I did not already.

I had many things that Pyrrha Nikos had. I'm identical, from the genes to the percent fat composition I am her successor. _No._ I am her in her entirety. Her memories. Her feelings. Her knowledge. I had it all. I have it all. I should have had it all. And yet I am not her.

I don't have her scars or her experiences or her memories.

I'm nothing more than a machine named Pyrrha Nikos.

"Pyrrha…" Jaune began quietly. "It might not be a good idea…"

And yet I don't have Pyrrha Nikos' fighting ability.

"It is _my life_." I spat out. "And I will fight."

The original Pyrrha would have declined the fight as beneath her. That was the message he was trying to convey. This Pyrrha… the one they keep speaking about… is. _Not. Me!_

I looked at Cardin, grinning stupidly as ever.

"And I will teach this one a lesson he will not forget."

"Hey look this isn't like you-"

" _Who are you to say what is or is not like me!?_ "

Wide eyes and a stunned silence was my answer.

The audacity of it all! I turned and fumed away telling them not to follow. I made my way back to the building. Stares and whispers followed me after the public display of unrestrained temper.

" _I hate it!_ "

I threw my fist at the wall. It hurt.

I clutched my injured hand. _No._ This was her hand - _Pyrrha Nikos'_ hand. Not my own.

I'm just a doll, caught in a script. As if I am a girl stuck in a room with a plaque hanging outside that says 'Pyrrha Nikos'. Each time someone delivers me a response it is like a note that slides under the door. I read it and I look through the volumes of information on Pyrrha Nikos. I craft a response, meticulously calculated and calibrated. I deliver it back.

They are excited. They think that because I say I am her, and I respond like her, that I could be her.

So when the message is not what they expected, they realize that I am not the machine they wanted but a person they do not know.

"You're hurt."

I looked up. Embarrassment, shame, and fear gripped my heart when I met her eyes. Weiss Schnee's icy gaze made me feel small. She found me in a moment of weakness. This was a girl who knew her place and lived up to a renowned name. Fame and a skill in battle with elegance and poise. Who would deny her the title of ' _perfection_ '?

I stepped back a bit. They say animals retreat out of fear. That to step back is a sign of terror.

Would Pyrrha Nikos have felt inferior beside such a person?

"You should go to the infirmary. It might be broken."

"I'm fine."

I walked past her. My blood was still boiling. My rage had not yet subsided.

There was nothing else I wanted in the world but to be left alone but the shadow of Pyrrha Nikos would follow me always. I wear her clothes. I sleep in her bed. I entertain the phone calls with her mother… I'm an actress on stage but at some point the curtains must close and there is a break in the play.

But alone - who am I really?

"You're too hard on yourself."

"Pardon?"

Weiss narrowed her look at me.

"You have her looks but no charm. You have her relationships but no connection. You have her knowledge but none of the wisdom. You have her name but that's what we call you - not what we feel of you."

My fury released itself in an unprecedented rage.

" _I am Pyrrha Nikos!_ "

"No. You are not," Weiss said flatly. "Stop trying to be."

The next moment was a blur.

My hand felt sore. My eyes widened. Weiss held her cheek.

 _I struck her._

"I deserved that." That was it. No sense of guilt. It was an apology made out of courtesy and expectation, not a genuine show of remorse. "Or do you feel I deserve another?"

I ran.

I didn't want to look at her or her judging eyes. I could tolerate the eyes of the 'friends' who called me 'Pyrrha' but treated me like who I was supposed to be. But the eyes of Weiss Schnee saw far beyond that. She didn't play the same game everyone else was playing.

I couldn't stand it. So I ran away.

I ran through the gardens. I ran through the hallways. I ran past classrooms until my legs finally began giving out. Pyrrha Nikos was a warrior. She had the stamina to run a dozen of marathons without being short of breath. Whereas I was huffing and puffing from running up a few flight of stairs. My heart was not as strong as hers.

Finally, I found an empty classroom to take a reprieve.

Everything was wrong. Everything was terrible.

Tears slid down my cheek. Would the original Pyrrha cry as I have? Would she shed tears? Or maybe she was stronger and I was failing to live up to her memory…

How could a clone, a counterfeit product, be anywhere close to a Goddess?

"Hey there, Nikos~"

That voice belonged to scum.

It was Cardin Winchester. He leaned an arm on the doorway, the hallway lights to his back. They casted a shadow over me.

"Whatcha doing out here all alone?"

I wiped the tears from my eyes.

"None of your business." There was no one I wanted to see and him least of all. I leaned on the desk, my legs felt weak. I clutched my heart, it had calmed down a bit but was still beating fast. The real Pyrrha Nikos would never allow herself to be in such a pitiful state. Much less reveal such weakness in front of someone she despised.

"I guess now would be a good time to see if I can conquer the unconquerable heroine…" Cardin's perverted grin was plastered all over his disgusting face.

His touch covered me. His body blanketed me. My hand was too injured to resist. I was too weak and exhausted to resist him as he mounted me.

"N-no… stay back! Back!"

The real Pyrrha Nikos would never beg.

I didn't have her power. I didn't have her strength. What did _that_ Pyrrha Nikos have that I lacked!? Cardin's disgusting face hovered over me like a beast set upon its prey. And here I was, as hapless as a rabbit caught by a fox.

He ignored my tears but I couldn't ignore his tongue and fingers and odor.

Then the sick thought occurred to me.

Maybe this would be the event that distinguishes me from the original. Perhaps the loss of my innocence to this filth would divorce my existence from hers once and for all.

Maybe then, I could be free.

I brought an arm around Cardin's neck. I embraced him as he embraced me.

Perhaps my salvation came in this shameful display, I cried as I returned his twisted displays of affection - tears mingling with skin and tongue.

Winds blew around us. Cardin's face of delight turned to fear. He lept off me. I shuddered in the cold. A blast of force blew him across the room and left him stunned, dazed. A swift, white figure glazed across the floor upon a path of glyphs.

Cardin stumbled before tumbling onto the floor, unconscious.

Standing over him, blade in hand, was Weiss Schnee.

"Are you okay?"

"I could have taken care of it myself…" I stuttered in my defense, covering my shame. My shirt was ripped and its tattered remnants could only modestly cover my revealed skin. I didn't want the light to see my pale flesh. I didn't want her eyes over me, seeing me in such distress. Again, I had brought shame to the name of Pyrrha Nikos.

Weiss sighed.

"Correction," said Weiss sheathing her blade. She casted a chilling glance towards me. " _Pyrrha_ could have taken care of herself."

Those words struck deeper than any arrow could.

 _ **Chapter Three Fin**_

' _You're beautiful, but you're empty... No one could die for you.'_

 **The Little Prince** by Antoine de Saint-Exupery


	4. On Jupiter and Mars

**Summary:** Volume 3 Spoilers. After her death, Pyrrha Nikos is cloned using Atlas technology. 'Little Pyrrha' has the original's manners, personality, and smile. She looks like her, acts like her… but doesn't feel truly her. For the March 2016 r/RWBY Mon Con.

 **The Little Pyrrha**

 **Chapter Four**

 **On Jupiter and Mars**

 _Written from the perspective of "Pyrrha Nikos"_

What is genuine and what is fake?

My genes do not belong to me, they belonged to Pyrrha Nikos. My friends were not friends that I have made but belonged to Pyrrha Nikos. They showed me pictures full of memories I never had. They take me to places I loved but have never been. These people are no different than the beggar on the street who thinks the world is ending and all hope is lost and we are doomed. But everyone is like this.

Everyone is playing the game but me. Maybe it is I who is the mad beggar crying ' _The End is Nigh!_ '

Well. It is incorrect to say everyone is playing the game. Weiss Schnee does not follow the rules. They do their best to avoid distinguishing between myself and Pyrrha - the one before me whom I've never met.

I wonder if she feels the same struggles I do.

Did she sob in the empty restroom stalls like I have?

Did she force herself to smile when all she wanted to do was cry?

Did she have to give so much effort to maintain a persona that was not hers? Her personality - this personality thrusted upon me - was hers and hers alone. She developed it naturally, and displayed it naturally. It took no talent on her part yet the effort strains me.

I am not Pyrrha Nikos - but if this flesh and face is not hers then who am I?

The fake Pyrrha?

I broke the restroom mirror. My knuckles hurt. They are bleeding.

Would the real Pyrrha have suffered as I have suffered? Every memory, every reminiscing thought, and every mention of her made her seem like a Goddess… beautiful and flawless.

So far away from who I am.

After emptying the contents of my stomach into the sink, I went to the lobby. I had donned my panoply of battle. The corset and boots and with my weapons - replicas of the original lost in the first Pyrrha's confrontation.

Even my clothes and weapons are fake.

We had been assigned a joint mission where we would be rotating team members. Jaune and I would be joined by two members of Team RWBY. I had desperately hoped Weiss Schnee would not be one of them.

She was.

With little fanfare, we set off on the bullhead dropship. Ruby made excited conversation while Weiss sat quietly beside her. Jaune entertained Ruby's wild notions while I fiddled with my fingers and thumbs.

Every now and then, Weiss would look at me. Her eyes said the same thing.

 _You cannot fight like her._

It is true. As a clone, I was only given a fraction of her battle potential hardened through experience and challenges. They gave me her genes but none of the skills or semblance.

I was as useful as a bookmark. I was there just as a reminder for the rest to not forget where they had left off so the story of Pyrrha Nikos would not end.

We landed in an abandoned mine on the far side of the mountain.

"Alright team! Ready to beat up some… um… what are we beating up again?"

Ruby bit her thumb, trying to remember what the mission was.

"We'll need to clear the mine of bandits," Weiss replied. "We will be using non lethal takedowns. However, this is also a heavily infested area so it would not be surprising if there were Grimm."

"Alright! So let's beat up the bandits and bring them to justice!" Jaune replied enthusiastically.

We advanced deeper into the cave.

There were no signs of bandits.

"Maybe we should split up," Ruby suggested with a glance towards Jaune.

"Yeah. Me and Pyrrha will go-" Weiss interrupted Jaune with a hand wave.

"I'll go with her. You and Ruby can go down that path."

Jaune looked at me. He didn't like the idea of Weiss and I alone.

I said I didn't mind, but I did.

As we stepped deeper and deeper into the mine, we found less and less signs of habitability. There were no discarded wrappers or abandoned campfires. There was the occasional bottle, probably having rolled all the way down to the lower reaches by time and luck.

The journey into the depths was quiet.

"It's quiet." I said, hoping to break the awkward silence.

"It is," Weiss replied.

"Do you think we'll run into anything down here?"

"Most likely."

Her laconic responses did not lift my spirits. As we crept deeper into the dark corridors, all we could find was rusted remains perhaps decades… maybe even centuries old that pre-date the Great War.

Then we came across the bodies of soldiers, and women and children, their flesh having rotted away to dust.

"People lived here," Weiss said somberly. "People died here."

"They probably wanted to escape the conflict outside…"

"It looks like starvation found them anyways."

"Must you be so pessimistic?" I snapped. Weiss cocked an eyebrow at me.

"That's original."

"What are you implying?"

Weiss sighed.

"You're too caught up trying to be her. You should live your own life."

"I am living _my life_."

"You're living the life of someone who shares your name and face. Not your own."

I fumed.

"Are you afraid I'll steal _him_ away from you?" Weiss asked.

I looked at Weiss' back, she had stepped further ahead of me. She did not look back after that statement. Did I love Jaune? Did I really? Or did I love him because that was what the old Pyrrha Nikos would have done?

Weiss stepped farther into the silence.

I stepped forward to follow, before I felt the weight of my body sink beneath the floor.

Then, everything was in fast moving darkness.

Down the twisting turns of the shaft, I slide along rusted plates and cobwebs until tumbling into a decayed patches of cloth piled on high that smelled of sweat.

" _Pft! Ugh! Disgusting!_ "

I limped out from the pile, having my weapons still with me.

I shined a light from small flashlight. I was in an ancient laundry room. I had fell through a laundry chute.

"Where am I?"

"Pyrrha!"

"Jaune?"

"I heard you scream," he said running towards me. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine, Jaune," I said with a sigh. He fussed over me like a mother caring for a child. "I can handle myself."

He stepped back and frowned. He didn't want to tell me otherwise.

"Yeah, of course. Let's get back. Ruby's waiting down the hall and-wait. What's that sound?"

"What sound-" His hand came over my mouth.

" _Shhh!_ Listen."

I listened.

Nothing.

I listened more.

Still nothing.

I closed my eyes and focused my ears.

Growling.

"Grimm…" I muttered.

"And a lot…"

We withdrew our weapons and made our way slowly towards the doorway. The darkness began filling with red eyes, eyeing us from afar.

"I don't know how many there are - but there's definitely a lot."

Could he have fought them off and protected himself?

We were at the doorway. The Grimm would tear it down in seconds if left undisturbed.

"I think I can handle them. You run to Ruby and get out of here. I'll bring up the rear," he whispered to me. "Whatever you do, no matter how much I scream - you got to keep running until you're out of here. Understand?"

I did understand, but my heart wouldn't obey.

"But Jaune-"

"No buts, Pyrrha!"

I clenched my fist. A thought resonated in my heart.

I didn't want to run.

It didn't matter to me if Pyrrha Nikos wouldn't have ran. It didn't matter if the world told stories of heroes who wouldn't retreat in the face of danger.

But for me, I - I living as a woman of Remnant - would not allow myself to run.

I looked up at his determined face. I wanted to protect him.

"Okay," I said. "But just… one last thing."

He turned to face me.

"Wha-?"

I pressed my lips to his. He was stunned. I pushed him away and shut the door. He screamed from the other side. What a useless fool. I can't hear him. I am already on death's side of the River.

The Grimm slowly advanced, curious to my presence.

Maybe we are like, nothing but shadows and beasts.

Then, the first and boldest takes the first leap. I raise my shield and ready my sword.

For the first time in my short existence, my courage is my own.

 _Again, I die._

 _ **Chapter Four Fin**_

 _"What makes the desert beautiful," said the little prince, "is that somewhere it hides a well."_

 **The Little Prince** by Antoine de Saint-Exupery


	5. In other words

**Summary:** Volume 3 Spoilers. After her death, Pyrrha Nikos is cloned using Atlas technology. 'Little Pyrrha' has the original's manners, personality, and smile. She looks like her, acts like her… but doesn't feel truly her. For the March 2016 r/RWBY Mon Con.

 **The Little Pyrrha**

 **Chapter Five**

 **In other words...**

 _Written from the perspective of Weiss Schnee_

"Must be hard, losing her again." In my mind, the words sounded comforting. The reality was that they were cold and distant. But like a stroke of my blade, I cannot take back my words.

Nevertheless, Jaune sat there quiet and unmoved.

There on the bench in the graveyard, he was dressed in black.

To bury the same person twice is too much for one lifetime.

Jaune stared at the ground. He's been that way for hours. Nobody - not Nora nor Ren, Blake nor Yang, and not even Ruby had managed to make him budge of his own free will. He wouldn't take food or water. His greeting was silence and his responses even quieter. Jaune was on a line between life and death having seen two much of it in one person.

A man can forgive all the times a girl has hurt him, but he will never forget when she sacrifices for him.

"How are you feeling?" We were all concerned for him.

"Jaune?"

No response.

"Hey. Look at me." Jaune removed unmoved. My fist clenched. The pity party was over. "Jaune. _Look at me_ ," I said impatiently. Slowly, like a rusted constructed, he turned his face to mine.

"Yeah?"

"She's gone." _Again._ I slapped my head for stating the obvious that didn't need to be said. "You should stop moping about it." _It won't bring her back._ "Get over it. Let's get something to eat."

Oh Weiss Schnee, how misunderstood you could be.

If there were any regret in my words, I did not show her. I kept my face straight. The words that came from my mouth were icy and callous - and did not convey my intentions at all. I'm not so good with those sorts of words.

"I didn't want to treat her any differently than before. I thought that Pyrrha and this Pyrrha could be… just the same - you know? Like a continuation of the same ol' story."

Jaune sunk lower.

"The imitation would live in the original's shadow, always." No matter what this Pyrrha would have done, everyone would have judged it by the standards and expectations of the old. "That's no way to live a life."

Jaune fiddled with his fingers. "You're right. I guess I missed Pyrrha so much I forgot that-"

"It's okay. We all made that mistake."

What value is there in a fake?

"In a way, that Pyrrha and I aren't so different. We are all burdened by our names… my weight is Schnee and hers is 'Pyrrha.'"

Jaune looked at me curiously. "What's the deal with a last name like Schnee?"

I eyed him suspiciously. "You don't know about my last name?"

"No. Is it special or something?"

My mouth opened slightly in surprise. "Haven't you heard of the Schnee Dust Company?"

"Yeah. Hasn't everyone?" Slowly the hamsters in his head began turning, lighting the realization in his eyes. "No. Wait. Are you like… related to the Schnee's or something?"

Years of etiquette training was the only reason why I didn't smack the doofus.

"She must have hated the expectations."

"That's my fault."

"It's all of our faults really." I do not think the line brought much comfort to him.

"What we all wanted was Pyrrha, but she's gone. What we got was someone else. We drove her to it. All the things we talked about Pyrrha in front of her. All the things we expected of her."

"Anyone can be tired of the expectations."

"People want to live their own life," Jaune lamented.

"I can empathize with the feeling."

"Weiss… I feel like I murdered her. The first time, I was too weak. And… yet again, I'm just too weak." Jaune began to quietly sob into his hands.

Maybe we were all complicit murderers, just as we were monsters for wanting her back. Thinking back to it, it was a good idea at the time. It was a mechanism to cope with our grief, rather than an actual solution.

But people don't want tough realities. That's why politicians become so popular - they promise the most painless solutions for problems with no easy answers.

"I can have my company rebuild her again…"

Jaune wiped a few tears from his eyes.

Jaune looked at me with a weak smile. "The last time you offered that, I shouted 'Yes!'," he said before looking down darkly. "Now, I think the only way for me feel lower is to say ' _yes_ ' again."

I sighed. "That's not how I remembered it," I said crossing my arms. "You grabbed me so hard I thought I was going to choke. You kept saying ' _Really, Weiss? Really?_ ' I felt embarrassed _for you_ , actually."

Jaune laughed a bit before his smile faded.

"I wish I could take back having said yes."

"We can't take back anything we do or say. We can only keep going forward."

"Yeah, maybe." Jaune looked up towards the sky. "Hey Weiss…" he whispered. "Thanks."

Looking at the grave set upon the hill, a thought came: _There, if not for the grace of God, go I._

"Hey Weiss. Do you believe in destiny?"

" _No._ "

 _Destiny._ It's an excuse. People are dealt a hand of cards but who says they have to play a game? Is every massacre, every famine, and every disease simply the result of Destiny? It's a crutch.

Jaune smiled. "Maybe it's Pyrrha's destiny to die. Again and again, no matter how much we want her to live."

"Her story is over. But ours isn't…" I murmured softly.

Are we to decide whether a person's life is valued by his or her's greatest moment of triumph? Are we to judge their worth by their lowest point? Can we determine whether a story is good by the numbers of seconds, or minutes, or hours, or years, they have left upon us?

No, lives should be judged by a whole.

I sat beside Jaune on the bench and watched as the orange autumn sun began to set.

"I'm hungry."

Jaune gave no response. I nudged him with my arm.

"I said I'm hungry."

"So go get something to eat."

I stood up and placed a hand on his shoulder, pulling him.

"I said ' _I. Am. Hungry._ ' Don't make a girl repeat herself."

"What do you want me to do about it?"

I huffed.

"It's unbecoming for a Schnee to dine alone. What am I? An antisocial misanthrope? You're coming with me for dinner and then for some ice cream."

Jaune smiled weakly. "Is this a date?" he joked.

Taking a finger, I flicked him on the forehead.

"It's a start."

 _ **Chapter Five Fin**_

' _But the eyes are blind. One must look with the heart…'_

 **The Little Prince** by Antoine de Saint-Exupery


End file.
